Students participate in public consultation
28 February — UP Baguio students participate in a public consultation led by the Sangguniang Panlungsod ng Baguio on the matters of the Act to Revise the Charter of the City of Baguio (RA 11689) and the recent “Act Establishing the Cordillera Autonomous Region”.
College of Social Sciences students who minor in political science were invited to participate in the consultation.
Jordan G. Habbiling covers the event in the official Facebook page of the Sanggunian and writes:
“Dura lex sed lex. The law is harsh but it is the law. But I only believe in this [principle] if it’s the people who made the law… My advocacy is, let us question the law because it was not we who made it,” [Atty. Jose] Molintas explained.
More public consultations will be conducted in the future, concentrating on certain provisions of RA 11689. The public’s opinion will be solicited for any possible proposed amendment of the Revised City Charter. This is part of the effort of the city council to correct certain provisions of the Revised City Charter after its failed attempt to convince former President Rodrigo Duterte to veto the bill.
In its resolution requesting for the veto on House Bill No. 8882, the city council enumerated some critical points.
The resolution pointed out the “ambiguity” of the territorial boundaries of the city as indicated in Section 3 of the bill. It claimed that this section does not indicate the exact metes and bounds of the City of Baguio which is supposed to be a “vital provision” of the city charter. It said there is a need to include a provision in the charter containing the definite metes and bounds of the city, taking into consideration the city’s land disputes with the adjoining municipalities.
The resolution also assailed the bill for stating that the sales shall go to the coffers of the national government. Under the original city charter, the said proceeds shall be remitted to the City Treasury Office to finance the A.O. 504 Clearing Committee for the processing of clearances of applications for land titling.
Likewise, the resolution claimed that the bill would undermine Resolution 362-1994 which contains the 19 conditionalities set by the city government in the formulation of the Master Development Plan for Camp John Hay to be complied with by the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA).
The resolution also asserted that a plebiscite must be conducted to involve the people of Baguio City, considering that the revisions are “substantial.”
Lastly, the resolution raised concern on the “discrepancy” between the new city charter and the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992 on the land area of the Camp John Hay Reservation.
For the full post, you can click this link to read the article.
The forum was attended by barangay officials, youth from different universities and representatives from different sectors and non-government organizations. The sanggunian will be leading more events like this and will be inviting students participate in public consultation.
